SA Minister Apologises For Leaked Sex Tape

South African Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has revealed that the much talked about tape containing material “of a sexual nature” currently in circulation in the country’s political circles has been used in blackmail and extortion attempts against him.

Gigaba says he was contacted by someone demanding R5 million for the video, which was stolen from his cellphone. He claims that he became aware of this just before his appointment as finance minister in March 2017.

In the 13-second video, the minister is seen alone playing with his penis with his hand while saying: “Imagine if this is in your mouth.”

Gigaba has since publicly apologized for the sexual video, which he says was intended only for his wife and himself.

In several tweets on Sunday morning, he said, “My wife and I have learned, with regret and sadness, that a video containing material of a sexual nature, meant for our eyes only, which was stolen when my communication got illegally intercepted/my phone got hacked, in 2016/17, is circulating among certain political figures…

“This video has been at the center of a number of blackmail and extortion attempts, dating back to the period immediately following my appointment as Minister of Finance, on 31 March 2017, all of which I have steadfastly refused to entertain…

“These blackmail/extortion attempts as well as the illegal interception of my communication/hacking of my phone have all been reported to the relevant law enforcement/intelligence agencies and I am advised that the resultant investigations are still continuing..

“I take this opportunity to publicly apologize, in advance, to the rest of my family – especially my kids, my mom and my in-laws – and the South African public for the pain and embarrassment the likely wider distribution of this private material will cause…”

Meanwhile, political analyst Mpumelelo Mkhabela said because of Gigaba’s public profile, the topic around the video would be a lot wider, but that South Africans in general are quick to overlook such scandals.

“Clearly he is embattled but South Africans have been exposed to the worst scandals, and as far as I am concerned, they are quick to overlook things.

He said the thing that will be a setback for him, is not his personal scandals, but his Gupta links were allegations that he was one of the ministers implicated in state capture were made in 2017.

“Unfortunately he has been involved in what one might call personal scandals; some have to do with his personal life, the issue of women and he is also implicated in the Gupta scandal although he denies it,” Mkhabela said.

Mkhabela added that the South African public don’t generally judge the competency of politicians based on personal scandals.“People are going to laugh about it, it will be a question of conversation but it won’t impact him politically. People will judge him personally, but they won’t make political decisions based on such scandals.”

Gigaba has suggested that the leaked video of him engaging in the sexual act was a political attempt to assassinate his character as the ANC compiles its list of MPs ahead of next year’s elections.